Slipping into Symphonia
by penguinmaster18
Summary: Self-insert. Tyler wakes up in Iselia after bad fall. Now, in order to get home he must find a way to join the Regeneration group and survive the journey. Why was he dragged into this? Only the mystrious, and quirky Medea knows.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, and welcome to Slipping into Symphonia Chapter 1 version 2. I got a better idea for the plot, so I decided to change som things. I'd like to thank all those people who read the first version. I'd also especially like to thank yggnomial for the review for the original, it _really _helped. I hope I've made this story better. **

I shivered, stuffing my hands into my coat pockets as I stepped out into the chill winter air. I glared at the several inches of snow on the ground. "Someone tell me where Jack Frost is so I can strangle him." I muttered under my breath as I grabbed the trashcan and began to pull it down the driveway. In case you haven't noticed, I _hate_ the cold, it sucks.

I reached the bottom of the driveway and set the trash by the curb before turning back to return the house. The sooner I was inside where it was warm the better. However, the ground was slick with ice, and in my haste to get warm; I was careless.

I slipped.

The back of my head connected painfully with frozen ground, my vision swam for a moment, and finally I blacked out.

* * *

The next thing I knew I was hearing voices. I tried to open my eyes, but to no avail.

"Is he going to be okay Professor?"

Professor? Why does that voice sound familiar? If only my head would quit throbbing…

"Yes, he'll be fine. It's only a mild concussion. It would be best if we just let him rest."

This voice sounds familiar too. Why? It's right on the tip of my tongue…

"Why do you think he was lying outside of Iselia anyway?"

A third voice, higher pitched than the other two, and also familiar. Gah! If only my head would quite hurting.

Wait. Iselia?! Iselia the Village of Oracles Iselia?!

My eyes snapped open and I sat up suddenly. Aagh. Bad idea, paaiin.

After a moment, the pain in my head receded again and I straightened my glasses, which had become crooked, and began looking around at my apparent rescuers in shock.

The first voice I had heard belonged to none other than Lloyd Irving in all his blindingly red glory. The other two voices had been those of the Sage siblings, Raine and Genis. Currently, they were all staring at me with shocked expressions. I guess my miraculous recovery surprised them.

Of course, I was staring right back, my eyes wide with a mix of shock, panic, and confusion. In this moment of shocked silence, a million questions raced through my mind. How did I get here? Why was I here? Was this a dream?

I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves. This had to be dream, right? I'll just play along until I wake up or something.

"Calm down, you're safe. My name is Raine Sage. You were found just outside the village by these two." She gestured toward the two boys standing quietly in the background.

"I'm Genis, Raine's brother."

"Hey, my name's Lloyd, are you okay?"

"Um, m-my name is T-Tyler. Tyler Wilson." I stammered. It isn't every day you speak to your favorite videogame characters, even in a dream. This just _had_ to be a dream.

"Well, at least you seem to remember your name. Now, can you tell me what happened?" Raine inquired.

"The last thing I remember I tripped and hit my head." This just could not be real. It had to be a hallucination from that fall. I'll wake up in the hospital or something soon, right?

"I see, well we'll let you rest for now and continue this conversation later. I have some business to attend to." with that, Raine ushered Lloyd and Genis out of the room and shut the door. I then heard the distinct sound of the door locking. Apparently, Raine didn't quite trust me. Admittedly, I wouldn't trust a strange boy who was randomly found on the outskirts of my hometown either.

After the trio had left, I was able to take a closer look at the room I had been taken to. It was relatively small and had a pair of beds, one of which I was laying on. There were also two small desks against the wall opposite the beds and some well-stocked bookshelves. There were books lying all over the desks too, some open as if for someone to begin reading again later. After a moment, I recognized the place as being Raine and Genis' house from the game.

Now you see I happen to be a bibliophile. A super book lover. I could not just lie there in bed while all those books called to me. So, I slowly stood up, leaning against the bed frame for support seeing as I was a little light headed. How could I be light headed and have a headache in a dream?

I finally decided to prove to myself that this wasn't real, no matter how real it seemed. I pinched myself as hard as I could on my arm, to my surprise it actually hurt. There was no way that could be right. So I decided on a second test. I hit my head against the wall.

"Oooww…" I moaned, rubbing the sore spot on my forehead. That wasn't my smartest idea…

Then it really hit me, it had hurt. You couldn't get hurt in a dream. I started shaking, was I really in Iselia? No way. This couldn't be real.

Seeking to calm myself, I scanned the shelves looking for something interesting. Maybe if I read something I'd be able to calm down and think about my situation more effectively. At least I hoped I would… After a few seconds, I noticed an odd, blaringly purple book. It was titled _The Culinary Arts for Geniuses_, it was written by The Wonder Chef.

"Now this I've got to see." I muttered. I have the unfortunate tendency to talk to myself you see. Now, as I was about to open the book something happened.

"Hey." A voice spoke from behind me.

I jumped, not having heard the door open or anyone come in. I whirled around to see who had spoken, my heart racing from surprise.

Standing there, next to the second bed was a woman. She seemed to be in her early twenties, with long blonde hair that fell to her waist. She was also wearing a red gown. It was a ball gown, but it was tattered towards the bottom and had black lace. However, what I found most noticeable were her eyes, they were blood red.

"Wh-what the? Who are you?" I knew she wasn't a character from Tales of Symphonia, what was she doing here? Who was she?

"I'm the one who brought you here. Now, shut your trap and listen up."

My, she was blunt wasn't she? I gulped; I was in a strange place with some strange woman. This didn't seem like it was going anywhere good. I glanced around; looking for something I could defend myself with if she tried anything.

I know I may seem paranoid, but I tend think the absolute worst of most situations. This woman was really intimidating. Not to mention the fact that in this world, she could probably kill me with a spell or something.

The woman took a few steps forward, and I noticed that she was actually slightly taller than I was. That was kind of odd, seeing as I'm a decent 5' 11", so she seemed to be a bit more than six feet tall. This made her seem more intimidating. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at me with a thoughtful look, as if sizing me up for something.

"Well, you're not quite what I expected, but I guess you'll have to do." she sighed. What was she talking about? She was acting like she was disappointed with a gift she had received.

"Um, excuse me, but what are you talking about?" I managed to say, despite my fear. This was confusing, what was going on?

"This is just great, I decide to try my hand at the Gambit and my warrior is a scrawny runt of a boy." What?! Scrawny runt?! Whoever this lady was she was beginning to get on my nerves. However, my outrage was overridden for the moment by fear. But now, I had a question.

"E-excuse me. What gambit?" I ventured. Maybe this would explain why I was here.

The woman turned back to me with a surprised look. Had she forgotten that I was there? "Oh, nothing that you need to worry about. Now, I suppose you're wondering how you got here. Well, I, the great Medea, brought you to this world!" Oookaay, this lady needs to make up her mind. One minute she's rude and intimidating, the next she's acting like she did me some big favor.

"What the hell is going on?!." I exclaimed. Medea stared at me in disbelief.

"Well, now wouldn't you like to know?" she smirked. "Now, I don't have much more time to speak with you, so I'll keep it short."

I didn't trust myself to speak anymore, this woman, Medea, was confusing me. So I just let her continue.

"I brought you here and you need to help the Regeneration group on their journey, got it?"

I nodded numbly. She was explaining things as if I were a toddler.

"Good, because if you don't you won't be going home any time soon. I gave you some supplies; they're in that bag over there." She gestured to messenger bag leaning against the bed I had woken up on. "It has enough gels, gald, and bottles to get you started, among other things. Are you following me?"

I nodded again; this was a lot to take in. I was in another world and I'd have to help save it. This was unbelievable, how could this be happening?

"There is also a dagger in it for you to fight with, as well as an exsphere."

Wait. An exsphere? That immediately snapped me out of my daze.

"An exsphere?! B-but those are made from someone's life! I can't use that!" I protested, outraged.

"You'll need it. If you don't have one there's no way you'll be strong enough to survive. Frankly, it doesn't look like you have much of a chance even _with_ an exsphere. Now shut up and let me finish." she took a deep breath before continuing. "Things are not the same here as in that game, I'm giving you a fair warning. _Don't _expect things to be exactly as you know them. Now, I have to go and work a few things out."

As she turned to leave she added almost as an afterthought, "By the way, I hope you like your new clothes." With that she left, vanishing into thin air.

I immediately glanced down at clothes. Gone were my blue coat, jeans and tee shirt. They had been replaced with a long sleeved green shirt, tan pants and a collared black vest. I also had a pair boots instead of my shoes. It didn't look bad per se, but it wasn't really what I preferred to wear. Bah! Forget the clothes Tyler, you have more important problems.

Why had Medea brought me, an average, lazy, obsessed with video games, 19-year-old boy to Sylvarant? I couldn't fight. I couldn't use magic. What good was I? I am sure it has something to do with that gambit thing she mentioned. What exactly was it?

After a while of uselessly pondering these questions my headache had returned and I decided to go ahead and lay back down. After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, I fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

A while later, I would guess a few hours, I was awoken as the door opened. Raine walked in, a stern look on her features. She was also holding a plate of what looked like chicken and rice.

"Genis made an extra serving for you if you're hungry." she said handing me the plate.

"Uh, Th-thank you very much." Darn it, I was stuttering again. Why do I have to be so shy around women?

I quietly took the plate with a word of thanks, and began to eat. It was amazing! It was quite possibly one of the best meals I had ever had! The game said Genis was a good cook, but this was just superb!

"My brother made it. Now I would like to ask you some questions, if that is alright." Straight to business, right Raine?

"S-sure, ask away." I hoped she would ask anything too difficult.

"Where are you from?" Crap, straight to the question I had been dreading most.

"I-I'm from a really small town, you probably wouldn't have heard of it." Think Tyler! What if she asks for its name? Think up one hurry!

"Would you mind telling me what it's called anyway? There is always a chance." Darn it, quit it with the interrogation! I mean no harm!

I shifted in my seat and answered in as even a voice as I could muster. "It's called Muspellheim. It's in the mountains to the Southeast, near the desert." Good work Tyler, your insane obsession with mythology finally paid off, as did my habit of reading player's guides when I was bored. I'd partially memorized part of the map of Sylvarant.

"I see, you are right I haven't heard of it." I could tell by the way she said that that she wasn't buying my story. "Why were you so far away from home?"

"I was traveling, I wanted to see the world while was still young." Okay, looks like I've hit my stride with lies.

She questioned me on various details of my past, saying she wanted to ensure I had no memory loss. After about 20 minutes she stood up.

"If you don't mind I'll take you to an inn where you can stay the night." An inn? There was an inn in Iselia? Apparently Medea was telling the truth, things were different from the game.

"Uh sure, lead the way."

She led me out of the house and through the village. I decided I needed to figure out as much as I could about my situation, so I asked a few simple questions.

"Is it true that the Chosen lives here?"

"Yes, incidentally the Chosen received the Oracle earlier today and she left shortly after."

That last part was a blatant lie. I wasn't too surprised that I had arrived on the day of the Oracle, but why was Raine so suspicious of me? Was she worried that I might working with the Desians? I knew Colette would leave early the next day. Though it seemed that I wouldn't be able to convince Raine to let me tag along. I sighed; I guess I'll just have to follow Lloyd and Genis later.

Wait a second, that means I'll have to survive the Desian's attack on the village. There's no way I could make it through that! This was not going to end well for me. Besides, what I screw something up? The worlds might not be saved, I might not get home. What was I going to do? I couldn't see any way of getting out of this mess without completely messing things up. I began to panic on the inside.

"We're here." Raine's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked at the building in front of us. It seemed small for an inn, but then again Iselia was a small town. The inn was simple wooden building, it didn't seem like it'd have many rooms. "I'll rent a room for you, wait here."

"No, that's all right, I can pay for it myself."

"All right" she nodded curtly, "Goodbye."

As she turned and walked back towards her home I sighed. There didn't seem to be anyway to earn her trust at the moment. I turned and trudged into the inn. I was already beginning miss my family. Who knew how this was going to turn out?

**Well, there we go! I hope you liked it, and if Tyler starts turning into a Gary-Stu please let me know. I REALLY don't want this to be scorned as a lousy Gary-Stu self-insert fic. Please read and review, but no flames please. Constuctive criticism would be appreciated. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, Chapter 2. Sorry this took a few days, but I had some trouble deciding on how to continue. Anyway, thank you all for reading! I'd also like to thank my reveiwers especially! As for if I will be pairing myself with one of the female characters... uh I dunno. I don't have any plans to. In fact at the moment I'm more concerned with getting things really going than any pairings. Anywho, I'm afraid this chapter is kinda slow at the beginning, but I managed something I think is kinda cool at the end. **

**Disclaimer:penguinmaster18 does not own Tales of Symphonia or anyhting he may referance later. He only owns himself and Medea.  
**

I awoke the next morning with a groan, of not only exhaustion but also dismay. Apparently, my hope that yesterday's events had been a dream had been in vain.

I did not help that I had not sleep well last night at all. It was bad enough having to sleep in a strange place all alone, but it was worse when it seemed strangely empty. I had not slept in a room without one of my brothers in about seventeen years; it was disconcerting not having them around.

I began to think of home, I might never see any of my family again if I don't get through this. Not Mom, not Dad, not Adam, Katie, or any of the little ones.

I swallowed the lump that had grown in my throat. It wouldn't do me any good to let my emotions get the best of me.

I stood up from the bed and picked up my bag, glancing momentarily at my left hand. The newly attached exsphere shined coldly in the morning light coming through the window. I had attached it the night before, following the instructions Medea had left in a note. It felt fine now, but last night it had started to throb painfully, before the sensation faded into a dull tingle. Though, according to Medea's note, that was what was supposed to happen. It was odd, though; I didn't feel particularly different, maybe just slightly more energized.

"I guess I had better get moving." I had decided last night, after going over my options, to get as far away from Iselia as I could before the Desians attacked. There was no way I would be able to defend myself against a small army of fanatic half-elves and possibly Exbelua. I'd rather take my chances with the wolves, thank you very much. Fixing my dagger to my belt, I left the inn.

In no time, I was out in the fresh morning air. Judging from the sun it was still early, about seven or so. My stomach began to growl, reminding me that I had to buy supplies for my journey to Triet, namely food.

In order to get to the grocer's I had to go past the town gate. As I passed, I noticed Kratos and Colette were standing by the entrance looking as if they were waiting for something. That was when I saw Raine rushing towards them, weighed down by an excessively large looking back pack. I raised an eyebrow, what the heck did she have in there? Knowing her, probably enough artifacts to fill a museum.

I went on my way, not wanting to give Raine any cause for worry. I am still not sure why she seemed suspicious of me. I'm still human, I checked. My ears are still round.

At the store, I bought as much food as I could fit into my bag, which holds more than it looks like it would. Weird. After paying with some coins from the small pouch I had found in the bag, I went to the town entrance.

Colette, Kratos, and Raine were long gone. I took a deep breath, and glanced back at the village. This would probably be the last time I saw it in its full glory. I felt a pang of guilt, was there really nothing I could do to save it? No, even if I tried to warn them they probably wouldn't listen. If they did, they would probably ask how I knew. Suddenly an idea struck me.

I dug through my bag and found Medea's note. Then I ran back to the store and bought a stub of pencil. Carefully, I used the pencil to scribble out Medea's letter and wrote a short warning on the back. I hoped they would listen; this was the best I could do without having to go into a long and dangerous conversation. A few minutes later, I had dashed to the mayor's house, hoping I remembered where it was.

"Please listen." I murmured, as I slid the note under the door. Quickly, I ran in a mad dash to get away before the note was found.

I made it back to the town entrance, panting heavily. After a few minutes of resting and getting my breath back, I stood straight and took a deep breath.

"Time to go." I began to stride out of the village, but glanced back when I heard yell.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Apparently, my note had been found. I quickened my pace; I needed to avoid being questioned.

* * *

After about fifteen minutes of speed walking, I slowed down a bit and sprinkled the contents of a holy bottle over myself, following the instructions on the container. I needed to save my energy and avoid monsters. I looked at my surroundings; to either side of the dirt path were emerald plains. I had never seen a landscape like it; I had grown up in a small college city and didn't get to travel much. In the distance to one side was a forest. I guess that's the forest where Lloyd and Dirk live. A small dome was forcing its way out of the trees as well, the Iselia Ranch.

I looked at it with disgust as I walked on, pondering what horrendous acts occurred there. How could the Desians be so heartless?

"Not a pleasant place, is it?" I gave a start and looked to the opposite side. There was Medea again, walking beside me. She really needs to stop sneaking up on me like that; if this keeps up, I'm going to have a heart attack. "Nice to see you again, Specs."

"What are you doing here?" I asked in an annoyed huff.

"I'm here to keep you company of course! Aren't I generous?"

"Uh, thanks…I guess…" I answered. "Now, do you mind telling how you brought me here?" Really, how did she drag me from my world?

"Meh, it's not really important. The important thing is that you're here, and you that you help save the worlds."

"Why the heck do they need my help?! They did everything just fine in the game!"

"_They_ don'tneed your help. _I _need you to help them."

"So, I'm just here because you wanted me here?"

"Oh no, you're important. To me that is." she said with a cheerful smile. "Without you my wish can't come true."

"What wish is that?" Now I was beginning to get curious.

"That's none of your business. You know, need to know kind of stuff." I gave an exasperated sigh; she was really getting on my nerves.

"Do mind at least explaining how you keep sneaking up on me?" That was really bothering me. She kept appearing out of know where and yesterday, she had disappeared in front of my very eyes.

"Well, it would probably be better if I showed you." with that, she threw her arm out. I expected her to hit me in the face, but instead all I felt was a chill. It was as if a cold winter wind was blowing against my face. The feeling quickly moved to the back of my head and suddenly faded. Her hand had gone _through _my head. "See, I don't exactly have a physical body." she clarified sheepishly.

"Wh-what?! A-are you a ghost or something?!" I yelped as I jumped away from her.

"Oh, no nothing like that. I'm just… corporeally challenged." she said as if this were an everyday thing.

I just shook my head in stunned silence. Why should I be surprised? I'm in a video game world full of elves, half-elves and monsters, why should a phantom woman be a surprise?!

"You know, you're taking this really well considering." Medea noted.

"Really? 'Cause frankly, I'm freaking out inside." I was, it was taking all of my willpower not to run away screaming like a madman.

"Well, you're not acting like it." I probably wasn't, I tended to try to hide my emotions from most people.

We continued in silence after that. I passed the time by eating some of the food I had bought, seeing, as I had not eaten since yesterday.

The silence was oppressive; finally, I decided to ask another question.

"Do you have any idea how far it is to Triet?"

"About three days on foot. But, you should reach the House of Salvation by tomorrow night." I groaned. I was going to have to camp out.

I have only been camping once in my life, and I stayed in the car most of the night because I was afraid of my brother's goat-man stories. I was not going to enjoy this one bit.

"So, why are you going to Triet?"

"It beats staying in Iselia and getting myself killed. Besides, I need to think of a good excuse to get them to let me travel with them." I really had no clue how to join their group; this wasn't going to be easy.

It was tiring traveling all day. I had never walked so much in my life, except for when my family had gone to Disney. By sunset my feet hurt, my legs ached and I was drenched in sweat. I was miserable.

I finally could not go any further, so I decided to stop for the night and set up camp a ways off the road. I unrolled the thin bedroll Medea had provided for me and had a small dinner of dried meat and bread. It wasn't pleasant, but I can't really cook very well and I didn't know how to make a fire.

"You know that holy bottle has worn off by now." Medea informed me. "If you want I could keep the night watch for you."

"Would you? Don't you need to sleep though?"

"No physical body, remember? I don't sleep." she said matter-of-factly.

"Well, thanks then. Wake me if anything comes up, I guess." I curled up under the covers, using my bag as makeshift pillow. I tossed and turned, trying to get into a comfortable sleeping position on the ground before finally falling into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

It seemed that no sooner had I fallen asleep that Medea's voice invaded my dreams.

"Tyler! Wake up! You idiot wake up!"

She was frantic. I snapped up and looked around wildly. It was still dark, the stars watching in the sky like millions of curious eyes. Then I heard it, a howl followed by a growl. My blood ran cold; my heart began to beat wildly. I jumped to my feet and drew my dagger.

I gulped, my mouth had gone dry. The sounds of something moving towards me reached my ears. Then I saw it, in the pale moonlight was a large wolf, its teeth bared in a fearsome snarl. It padded toward me slowly, deliberately. I stood there trembling, fear keeping me captive.

The wolf pounced, a hungry gleam in its eyes. I finally managed force my legs to move, and jumped back, the beast missing me by mere inches. However, I stumbled over my bag and fell over with a yell.

"Get up moron! Move it!" Medea screamed.

The wolf paused momentarily and seemed to glance over to where Medea was standing. It gave me just the chance I needed; I grabbed my bag and turned to dash away. However, the wolf leapt at me again, clawing and biting down on my leg.

I yelled at the top of my lungs. I'd never experienced so much pain before. I turned and managed to slash the wolf's muzzle with my dagger, forcing it to release me.

Blood began to seep out the wounds the wolf had given me. I managed to stand back up, putting all my weight on my good leg. If I did not do something soon I would be killed by the beast.

The wolf began to advance again, ready to finish me. I held out my dagger, preparing to defend myself. It pounced, landing on top of me and knocking me to the ground. It snapped its teeth at my head, trying get my skull between it jaws. I winced as I lashed out with the dagger and pierced its throat.

The wolf began to go limp, finally collapsing on top of me. I pushed it off, breathing heavily. I was covered in dirt and blood, my leg was killing me. I winced as searched through my bag, eventually pulling out what looked a red gummi candy. I swallowed, gasping at the sensation of wounds healing.

I looked at the corpse of the wolf and shuddered. I had nearly _died_. I began to tremble again, fearful of what could have been. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. I sat down on my bedroll, scarcely aware of Medea congratulating on my first victory.

I just sat there staring at the sky, knowing I would not be able to go back to sleep, for fear of another attack. I sat there until dawn, tears of fear streaking my face.

**Well, what do you think? That's the first real action scene I've ever written. Please read and review! But no flames please. **


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